Greenhouse gutter



Feb. 26 1924. 1,484,83

P. L. MCKEE GREENHOUSE GUTTER Filed Sept. 12 1921- Patented Feb. 25, 1924:.

PHILIP L. MOKEE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

GREENHOUSE GU'ETER.

Application filed September 12, 1921. Serial No. 508,258.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PHILIP L. Molina, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Greenhouse Gutters, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relatesto greenhouses, and the principal object of the invention is to provide means for eii'ectually collecting and removing the moisture which condenses on the under side of the root. It is well known to those familiar with the operation of the greenhouses that, owing to the great humid 'ity of the atmosphere within the greenhouse and the chilling efiect (especially in cold weather t} of the glass and other parts of the r00 much moisture is condensed, and this condensed moisture or drip forms a. great source not only of annoyance but also of loss to the owners. Many expedients have been tried to overcome this, but none of them, so as I am aware, is completely effective. This is especially true at the troughs of the building, that is, where two sections meet. It is common practice to provide gutters at the junction of two sections for carrying off the rain and snow falling on top of the roof. But it is at the gutters where the condensation is most annoying because the water runs down the panes and rafters toward the gutter and then drips from various parts of the gutter. Usually these gutters are fiat on the bottom and the moisture is apt to drip from almost any part of it. Also there is apt to be a drip from the lower ends of the rafters and adjacent portions of the building. This drip is not only of great annoyance to persons who may have occasion to be in the building, but it does great damage to the plants below by giving them an excessive amount of moisture. In ordinary cases the drip is so bad that approximately a foot of space on either side of the gutter is wasted because the plants will not grow under the attendant circumstances.

My purpose is to overcome these diiliculties and to provide a simple but effective structure for collecting and conveying away all of the moisture which gathers both on the outside and the inside of the roof. Am other object is to so configurate the gutter that it will not only collect the moisture falling on the top of the roof and the drip forming on the inside of the roof but will also form a spacing element against which the lower ends of the sloping rafters may abut.

I accomplish my object by the structure illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Figure l is a sectional eievation showing an assembly oi the gutter and associatet parts.

Figure 2 is a sectional veiw on the line 22. Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the lower and of a rafter formed for use in con nection with my main gutter, and

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4&, Figure 1.

Like numerals denote like parts throughout the several views.

In the form selected to illustrate the invention the greenhouse is provided with posts 1 at suitable intervals. At the top of these are bolted or otherwise fastened brackets 2. These brackets are usually castings having branches 4: extending obliquely upward for supporting the main gutter 6. Said brackets also have branches 8 for supporting the supplemental gutter 10.

The main body of the main gutter is V- ,shapedat least on the bottom, thus forming an inverted peak 12 when viewed in cross section as in Figure 1. The sides slope downward to this lowermost central portion with the result that the water of condensation instead of collecting at uncertain and indefinite points always runs down to this inverted peak from which it finally drops. While the top side of the gutter is not necessarily symmetrical with the bottom side of it, nevertheless it is preferable that such be the case, and this form is illustrated in the drawings. The main gutter is simply a heavy, formed piece of sheet metal and is secured by bolts 13 to the branches 4 of the brackets 2.

The supplemental gutter 10 previously mentioned is a relatively small afi'air made preferably of sheet metal and resting in the branches 8 of the brackets 2. It will be understood that the brackets are apertured at this point to permit the supplemental gutters: to convey the water through them. These supplemental gutters are located directly beneath the inverted peak 12 of the main gutters and as all the moisture which reaches the under side of the main gutter drips from said inverted peak, it follows as a natural consequence that the drip is all collected in the supplemental gutter and is conveyed by it to a suitable down spout or receptacle at the end of the building.

The main gutter is also provided with means for supporting the lower ends of the rafters. For this purpose I provide flanges 15 Which are preferably integral and extend obliquely upward and inward at right angles to the rafters 16, which abutthem. Brackets 18 for cooperating with the flanges 15 for supportingthe rafters are bolted or otherwise fastened to the flanges '15 as illustrated in Figures 1 and :2. The rafters have side gutters 20 for conveying the condensed moisture down to the main gutter and have shoulders 21 for supporting the panes 22 of glass. Ordinarily the rafters have center ribs 24: which separate the panes of glass, and in my construction it is desirable to cut back the lower portion of the rafter so that the rib will have a portion 25 which projects over the top of the flange sloping portion 6 of the main gutter, thence down to the inverted peak 12 whence the water drops intortrough 10 and is carried away. I have found that this construction totally eliminates drip, or practicallyso,

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: y

In a greenhouse the combination, withthc sloping rafters, of a main gutter which is V-shaped at the bottonr for collecting the drip along a single line, the gutter being metallic and havingintegral marginal flange sloping "upward and inward at right angles to the rafters and forming an abutment for the lower ends thereof, brackets for supporting the gutter, said brackets having branches extending obliquely outward and upward for seating the gutter, and a supplemental gutter running lengthwise of the main gutter beneath the bottom apex thereof for collecting the drip therefrom, the bracket being transversely apertured for receiving and supporting said supplemental gutter.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

PHILIP L. MoKEE. 

